Chapter 33: Beneath the Surface

Ethan Carter stood at the window of his office, staring out at the New York skyline, his mind far from the glittering expanse before him. The encrypted message he'd received earlier in the day replayed in his head like a haunting refrain: "The shadow network is deeper than you think. Be careful who you trust." There was a chill in the warning, not because of what it revealed, but because of what it left unsaid.

The battles Ethan had fought so far—disrupting SurePay, outmaneuvering Chloe, and gaining a foothold in his father's empire—now felt like mere skirmishes in the face of a larger war. He wasn't just building an empire; he was stepping into a game where the rules were written by invisible hands, and the stakes could upend everything he'd worked for.

Sophia Brooks entered, her heels clicking softly against the marble floor as she carried a folder. "You're deep in thought," she said, setting the folder on his desk. "The message?"